Mavericks find a minor deal at the NBA trade deadline

CORPUS CHRISTI - Well, the Mavericks didn't hit a home run on deadline day, but they did bunt for a base hit with a buzzer beating move right as the 2 PM trade deadline came about. In a simple one-for-one deal, the Mavericks are sending forward Dahntay Jones to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for sharpshooter Anthony Morrow. Both Jones and Morrow have expiring contracts, so the deal has no long-term implications on either squad, both of which are keeping their options for a shot at Dwight Howard this off-season.

I absolutely love this deal for the Mavericks. It's a no downside kind of a move that gives the Mavericks a rotation piece that can help them in their pursuit of a playoff spot and, if Morrow takes a liking to the city, could lead to a future partnership. For what it's worth, Morrow is one of the players that Howard mentioned when asked who in the NBA he wanted to play with a couple of years ago. Jones wasn't playing often for Rick Carlisle and Dallas already has two versatile defenders in Shawn Marion and Jae Crowder, which makes Jones a dispensable piece.

Morrow hasn't had much of a role on the Hawks this season, but he's a 27-year old three-point specialist that has a career three-point percentage of 42.5%. Dallas is already the ninth best three-point shooting team in the league, and the addition for Morrow gives them a wing player that they can slide into their rotation right away and expect him to produce. Morrow is the kind of player that can add an extra dimension to your offense because of all of the things you can do with him as an off-ball maniac. He may not be Rip Hamilton, but Morrow can come off screens and fire the ball effectively and he's killer as a spot-up shooter on the weakside off of pick-and-roll action, which will make him a great fit for the pick-and-roll crazed Mavs.

The Mavericks were hoping to land a Milwaukee point guard for most of the day - just not the one I talked about last week. Veteran Beno Udrih was available and could have been a Mav if the Hawks had worked out a deal for Josh Smith with the Bucks. Instead, Milwaukee packaged Udrih with two other players in a deal with the Magic for J.J. Redick. With that deal coming so close to the deadline, Dallas must have had the deal for Morrow in place with the Hawks as a fallback option, and the two teams decided to pull the trigger just in time.

It's not a huge trade and Morrow may never play more than 20 games with the Mavericks, but these kind of deadline deals are always available, and I think the Mavs did a great job to get a usable piece for their last gasp at a playoff spot.